A Project-Based Approach to Breathing Life into Academic Writing

Style and academic writing do not have to be mutually exclusive. My approach to teaching academic writing has developed over a period of fifteen years while teaching English as a Foreign Language at a university with approximately 7,500 students in Northern Germany. In recent years, Leuphana University Lüneburg has placed a great emphasis on learner autonomy and academic writing, a change that has led the Foreign Language Center to experiment with project seminars and to found a writing center for students and university members. While some students may shy away from a daunting creative writing seminar, they may sign up for a more “accessible” topic, such as academic writing. However, they may be surprised to learn that creative potential can also be cultivated in academic writing courses that dare to be different. This project geared to undergraduate, German students with a B2/C1 level of English according to the CEFR could certainly be adapted to fit the need of upper-secondary writing or literature classes.
In this talk, I will discuss criteria for developing meaningful projects based on the work of Wim Görts, the benefits and challenges of engaging in problem-based learning and focus on one such example, on a project seminar entitled, “Writing with Style: Discovering Your Academic Voice.” In the winter semester 2011/2012, students with a variety of majors chose, developed, carried out, reflected on, and evaluated an academic writing project. As the students wanted to somehow combine academic writing with film or literature, we selected to work with Canadian/Anishnawbe playwright Drew Hayden Taylor’s The Berlin Blues. The comedy is about a group of German developers who build a Native amusement park on the fictional Otter Lake Reverse. Designed to appeal to European tourists, “Ojibway World” makes use of nearly every every cliché and stereotype to provide its visitors with an “authentic” experience, causing a hilarious turn of events and division among the community members. The play provides students with the opportunity to learn about stereotypes, the use and abuse of native culture for profit, human relationships, and native humor. Literature can also help students to see the beauty of metaphors, improve their creative use of language as well to serve as a springboard to help students become intercultural speakers. Students collaborated on academic posters on a variety of themes linked to the play; they were presented in an exhibit held after the author’s reading at the university and served as a springboard for discussions with other audience members. This experience enabled students to practice communicating with grace, concision, and clarity while improving a host of other competencies, such as reflection, creativity, self-confidence as well as time management. Over the course of the seminar, they learned and perfected techniques for jazzing up academic register and had a lot of fun while doing it. Yes, fun.